Wake up, you're late for work

They've come a long way.

Quintessa was Vito's first daughter. It wasn't a seamless transition. It all started when he was getting more involved with Klaus' life. Although she was technically his cousin, Quintessa treated Klaus like her father. Vito, settling into the position of second-in-command, made himself comfortable and micromanaged all of Klaus' assets — his business, his possessions, and his family. For a while, he was Mr. Russo to Quin, an intimidating but helpful presence that came over to Klaus' apartment for purposes beyond business, sex, and romance. He cleaned, he cooked, and he befriended the children, treating them like he did his nieces and nephews. Mr. Russo fumbled into uncle at some point, but with Klaus' encouragement, father.

Snake dad, she liked to call him. Eight years have passed and it still didn't feel real. Vito loved, of course, he loved Klaus, his children and his friends with an intensity that sunk to the very fibers of his bones. They were his entire life. But it was like loving a display at an exhibit. There was a glass between him and his family. They were ultimately Klaus' business, his possessions, and his family, and Vito was only allowed to touch them so long as it fell within his terms. This thing he was doing, being his adviser and father, it was a role built on flimsy ground. It made him endlessly happy, but he knew something was inevitably going to break.

With how things were set up, the odds were stacked against him. He wasn't going to be snake dad forever. Couldn't bear to be this clown of a father, not with his pride. At some point, he was going to have to stop playing pretend, and it was either going to end at an altar with another or a graveyard.

That was fine. That was what he'd known and accepted long ago. He was more worried about how Klaus and his kids, if he managed to instill values that would help them survive even without him. He had to do something about Klaus' instability. Shay was young, and he was disciplining her enough to smooth out her rough edges, be more like him. Addy was a headache, but lovely and talented, with the potential to be something brighter. Quin, Quin grew so much, and he was really, really proud of her.

He was harder on her now. He had to be. She was a shaping up to be a capable adult, and he knew with a few more lessons she'd grow into someone that can take care of her father and her siblings. It was a lot to put on one girl, but he wouldn't put this on her if she couldn't handle it.

That was why he was going to her apartment today. Vito wasn't one to make surprise visits, but the element of surprise was crucial here. She needed to be able to handle anything.

It was Saturday noon. Vito knocked on her door, one hand holding dry cleaning.

"I'm coming in. If you're not decent, I suggest picking up something to wear now." Giving her enough time to go into her room to put on some quick clothes if she wasn't already, he unlocked her door with his key.

Vito smiled faintly at his daughter and let himself in, checking the kitchen as soon as he got inside in an impromptu impromptu inspection. He wiped his finger on top of the kitchen counter. Still clean. Atta girl.

Peeking into her bedroom, however, he couldn't help but frown a bit. Quin always played video games in her off-time. He wouldn't have had a problem with that if it weren't for the fact that that was all she did. She was shaping up to be a responsible adult, yes, but all things considered, it wasn't as if she was subjected to the hardships other adults were. Vito wrote her checks and took care of her benefits. If she were employed to people that weren't her fathers, he had to wonder how well she was going to do.

Which brought him to the present. Vito went over to Quin and handed her the dry cleanings. Inside was a full waitress outfit her size, a short-sleeved blue button up shirt, slacks, and an apron around the hips. Even Vito was wearing something out of the ordinary. It was still a suit, yes, but it was gray, his tie was blue, and the inside was yellow. He had a name tag that said "Vito Rosales."

"Change into this," he told her without much ceremony. "We're leaving in ten minutes. You're late for work."

With that, Vito didn't give her enough space to ask questions and headed straight to the car. He set his phone's timer to ten minutes.

Vito clicked the phone timer off. Seven minutes. He smiled faintly at Quin. "Good time," he told her, before driving off.

He knew his daughter wanted some form of explanation, but he didn't give her one. For the most part, he drove in silence towards the restaurant. Let her make up a scenario in her mind. He knew no matter how antsy she got, she wouldn't ask, or if she did, she wouldn't press the issue. Father knew best.

When they were about thirty minutes away from the destination, he finally spoke up.

"You know, when I was a child, a small boy, not older than five, my mother took me to the garden with her one morning. She said that the world is a cruel place. In order to eat, you have to earn. That's just the way things are." He paused, nodding for a moment. Vito had a good memory. He could recall the time easily. "And then... my mother handed me a pair of scissors, and taught me how to pluck tomatoes from their vines. You hold them in the base and snip the top off. We did that for hours, out in the sun. I couldn't have plucked more than twenty tomatoes, not to add the ones that weren't ripe."

He smiled fondly. "For lunch, we had tomato soup. It was delicious. And my mother told me that it was delicious, because I helped make it." Did he sound like a children's storybook? He supposed it didn't matter. It would set the tone for the day.

They got there soon after. Vito parked the car at his family restaurant, the original one, a place Klaus and the kids knew by heart. He gestured Quin to follow him inside and scoped out the area.

It was relatively quiet, but it wasn't going to stay that way. The nearby Accounting Firm was going to have its Lunch Break soon enough. Vito gestured to the tables near the counter. "In the restaurant business, waiters and waitresses are tasked specific zones. This will be yours. If asked, the day's special is..."

Vito snapped his fingers and pointed at the cashier, his cousin Alma. Alma flushed and answered, "Pizza Capricciosa!"

Vito nodded. "And don't forget to offer them the family platter, with two pizzas, a pitcher of iced tea, and two large plates of pasta." He placed his hands on Quin's shoulders, turning her to face a couple at a nearby table, gesturing for a waitress. "First order. Go take it."

Vito, sly as a snake or so the saying goes, slipped behind a nearby pillar to observe how Quin was going to handle the situation. He peered into the scene.

The man was the kind of man that Vito normally cringed at. He had an unruly beard, and upon closer inspection, his glasses were purely decoration. He never understood why glasses had become an accessory. It was to help blind people see. The fetishism of blindness was lost on him.

"Yeah, uh. I like the Garden Salad Pizza, but can you guys change the milk in the batter and cheese with soy milk? I noticed that your restaurant doesn't really have vegan pizza options and Marigold and I find that offensive. Did you know that GMOs have infected chickens so there are no four-legged chickens to make more drumsticks. How fucked up is that?"

Vito rubbed his head and sighed. He thought the first customer was going to be easy, but it seemed not. Still, this seemed like a suitable test for Quintessa. He wondered if she could handle it, or if she'd give up and blow a fuse.

The man was starting to give away too much information about his and his lover Marigold's relationship, but thankfully, they went back to the menu. Instead of ordering anything, he pointed out that he doesn't eat various ingredients, even harmless ones like cheese, because he was a vegan.

The vegans, sidetracked by the sudden question, started rereading the menus. It didn't take long for them to find something they liked, considering drinks were fairly simple.

"Yeah, we'll have two mint iced teas. You should really talk to your manager about a vegan menu, though. We believe that all restaurants should be vegan friendly. I mean. It just makes sense, sounds kind of racist otherwise." They both nodded.

As far as annoying customers went, Quintessa handled that fairly well for someone that hasn't been trained. Vito slipped out from his hiding place, hoping Quin would see him and follow him back to the counter so they could regroup. Alma behind the counter was ready to wave and welcome her back.